Malaysia’s DAP votes to stay in government, easing pressure on PM Anwar after state polls setbacks
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- DAP voted 1,857 to 242 (with 7 spoilt votes) to remain in Anwar's Cabinet at its Aug 16 national conference in Putrajaya, where 2,223 of 4,000+ delegates took part in the referendum — a turnout of 52.1%
- The decision averts an early election for Anwar, as DAP's 40 parliamentary seats make it the largest party in the Pakatan Harapan coalition and critical to maintaining the government's majority
- DAP called the referendum after failing to win any of the 8 seats it contested in the Sabah state election in November 2025, part of PH defeats in Sabah, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan (lost Aug 1 to a BN-PN pact)
- Delegates debated reforms including separating the attorney-general and public prosecutor offices, imposing a two-term limit on the prime minister, and reverting the RON95 petrol subsidy quota from 200 litres back to 300 litres
- Despite the lopsided tally, dissent surfaced: a Kuala Lumpur delegate accused Anwar of 'pitting allies against each other' by empowering UMNO, and a Penang delegate said relying on good governance alone to win the next election was 'wishful thinking'
- Anwar acknowledged at his PKR congress in Melaka that DAP is a 'stumbling block' to winning Malay votes — some Negeri Sembilan voters told his then chief minister they would have backed PKR 'if DAP were not in the picture' — but pledged loyalty regardless
Why it matters: The vote buys Anwar's coalition breathing room until Malaysia's next mandatory general election in February 2028, but the source shows the stability is conditional: a Huayan Policy Institute head quoted in the article said DAP should reconsider its own banner and continued support for Anwar if reforms show limited progress over the next six months to a year, while Anwar's own admission that DAP costs Malay votes exposes the coalition's structural weakness.
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